Grey and blue skies above Spa on Saturday morning

A cold but so far dry day has dawned at Spa-Francorchamps.

An hour before the final practice session on the day of Belgian GP qualifying, some blue sky and sunshine is present above the famous track, which is damp from overnight rain.

But also visible is a lot of white and grey cloud, and a weather forecast predicting possible rain.

Indeed, the teams’ pitwall radar screens already show showers in the surrounding Ardennes region, and there was a lot of rain after Friday’s practice sessions and into the night.

But when compared with Sunday’s forecasted heavy rain, the outlook for Saturday is in fact much better, and some locals say a dry day at Spa is a real possibility.

"We’re expecting a mixture of everything for the rest of the weekend," said Renault’s chief engineer Alan Permane.